Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess Review

With the roll Capcom has been on as of late, it’s laborious to keep in mind that it went by a chronic hunch the place it simply couldn’t get something proper. Capcom is again on high, child! Nicely, principally. Whereas it has been rattling off banger after banger for years now, these video games have all been sequels or remakes. With Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, Capcom is taking the ultimate step towards rectifying the singular flaw with its current output. And better of all, it’s doing it with model.

Kunitsu-Gami is a beautiful, Kagura impressed, RTS-action hybrid. You management the spirit warrior Soh and spend your time alternating between liberating villages from the demonic Seethe, and rebuilding those self same villages. It’s Actraiser meets Okami combined with Pikmin with a splash of Vegetation Vs. Zombies for good measure. If these factors of comparability really feel more and more weird, it’s as a result of Kunitsu-Gami doesn’t have a singular parallel and defies traditional style expectations.

Amaterasu from Okami next to key art from Kunitsu-Gami

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Kunitsu-Gami’s intoxicatingly charming aesthetic units the tone. Capcom modeled real-life property after which scanned them into the sport, and the tip result’s that Kunitsu-Gami appears to be like like a residing, respiration, diorama. There’s a Wes Anderson-esque stage of particularity to all the things on show. This extends to the UI as nicely. The menu for sifting by your tools and upgrading your models isn’t a menu in any respect, however requires interacting with the varied accoutrements surrounding Yoshiro, the sport’s resident shrine maiden.

If Appears to be like Might Kill…

Yoshiro isn’t simply the keeper of the menu, she performs an important function within the gameplay, as you have to information her from one finish of the stage to the opposite. She’ll solely progress through the day, through the night time you’ll must defend her from the ever-encroaching Seethe. The daytime parts are among the most frantic, as that’s whenever you’ll be releasing villagers (who will develop into your troopers), gathering assets, and constructing obstacles to gradual the relentless Seethe. You’ll want to transfer rapidly earlier than it’s time to hunker down and combat off waves of them by dusk.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Attacking the Mukadejoro's weak point.

The phases themselves do a terrific job of steadily introducing new enemy varieties and gameplay wrinkles. Throughout one stage, you’ll lose the flexibility to make use of Soh to assault straight, forcing you to be far sharper together with your troop placement. Not lengthy after that, you’ll be combating off hordes of the Seethe whereas floating throughout a river: beating them again as they attempt to sink your ships.

Practically each boss battle has its personal gimmick as nicely, which shall be notably vital to make the most of in case you are hoping to defeat them rapidly. These vary from lighting lanterns that reveal weak factors to luring bosses into place and hitting them with a well-timed cannon shot. From starting to finish, there was by no means some extent in Kunitsu-Gami the place the gameplay felt drained.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Yoshiro handing Soh a Tsuba Guard.

On high of the gameplay selection, you’ll additionally obtain a bevy of talismans, which you’ll be able to construct bespoke methods round, and there may be all the time one other unit kind being unlocked, with every including its personal specialization. This all results in a powerful quantity of freedom to specific your self and experiment with completely different loadouts.

That being mentioned, outdoors of the occasional gameplay shakeup, nearly all of missions received’t push you to have interaction in experimentation. Whereas I failed a couple of missions right here and there, it was primarily as a consequence of my very own recklessness. If you’re maintaining together with your village restorations, you’ll be well-equipped to cope with something the sport throws at you irrespective of the way you equip your self.

Nevertheless, the optionally available goals present an additional problem. I didn’t wrestle to beat the Gakinyudo – the sport’s first boss – once I first encountered him, nevertheless it did take me a couple of makes an attempt to beat him in beneath a minute, which scores you a shiny new talisman. Most optionally available goals will both require you to limit your self or full goals extra effectively. They’re a welcome addition and add a a lot appreciated pinch of issue.

Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess. Yoshiro purifying a torii gate.-1

Very similar to the Seethe slaying a part of the gameplay, the village restoration facet of issues grows in complexity as you progress, having you handle extra initiatives and juggle bigger teams of villagers throughout a number of settlements. However the nuts and bolts stay largely the identical: assign villagers to restore options of every village and test again after finishing a set variety of missions to say your reward. There isn’t something fallacious with it, however that facet of the sport feels shackled by its reluctance to delve deeper into the administration mechanics. At its finest, it acts as a steady drip of rewards for finishing missions, however at its worst, it will possibly veer dangerously near feeling like busywork.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a breath of recent air. Its tireless dedication to its aesthetic, and engaging, different gameplay make for a memorable expertise. One that’s as charming as it’s enthralling. In an period the place Capcom largely produces remakes and sequels, video games like Kunitsu-Gami are extra vital than ever. Each inch of Kunitsu-Gami feels deliberate, and the fervour of those that developed it bleeds by. Kunitsu-Gami is carving a path ahead for Capcom, and on the finish of that path is a extra inventive gaming panorama.